A^°^  ^^"^ 


AUG    i  1  1977 


'^fOtOGICtL  St^5 


.Vt 


F  144  .E4  K45  1880 
Kempshall,  Everard,  1830- 

1904. 
Caldwell  and  the  Revolution 


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in  2010  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://www.archive.org/details/caldwellrevoluOOkemp 


The   Centennial  Anniversary   of  the   Burning   of 

the  Church  Edifice  of  the  First  Presbyteriajx-- -— _^ 

Church  of  Ehzabeth,  New  Jersej^^^^''  ^^  ^f^'A'Cf} 

AUG    i 


"  Cald^w^ell  and  the  Revolution^ 


A  Historical  Sketch  of  the 


FIRST  PRESBTTERIAN  CHUI^CH  OF  ELIZABETH, 

Prior  to  and  during  the  War  of  the  Revolution; 


BEING    A    DISCOURSE    DEMVERED   ON 


SUNDAY,  JANUARY  25th,   1880, 


REV.  EVER ARDKEMPSH ALL,  D.  D. 

Pastor  of  the  Church. 


Printed  hy  Oi'der  of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 


Elizaheth,  N.  J. : 

Elizabeth  Daily  Joiirnnl,  Cor.  riioad  and  Jersey  Streats. 
1880. 


PREFATORY  NOTE. 


The  following  is  an  extract  from  the  minutes  of  a 
meeting  of  the  Session  of  the  Fii'st  Presl^yterian  Church 
of  Elizabeth,  N.  J.,  held  January  5tli,  1880: 

"  On  the  last  Sabbath  of  this  month,  l)eing  the  25th 
inst.,  occurs  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  burn- 
ing of  the  church-ediiice  of  this  congregation.  It  was 
set  on  fire  by  British  soldiers,  or  by  Tory  refugees, 
on  the  night  of  Jaimary  25,  1780,  and  was  totally 
consumed. 

In  the  judgment  of  Session  it  is  eminently  fitting 
that  some  proper  commemoration  of  so  interesting  an 
event,  in  the  history  of  the  town  and  of  the  church, 
should  be  made  ;   therefore,  it  is  hereby 

liesolved,  That  the  Pastor  be  respectfully  rerpiested 
to  preach  a  discourse  on  the  evening  of  the  25th  inst., 
npon  the  history  of  the  First  Church,  up  to  and  during 
the  War  of  the  American  Revolution,  and  to  arrange 
for  such  other  services  on  that  day  as  may  appear  in 
his  judgment  to  be  proper." 

In  pui'suance  of  this  action  of  the  Session,  a  dis- 
course was  delivered  on  the  morning  of  SuncLay,  Jan- 
uary 25,  by  Reverend  Professor  Cameron,  of  Princeton 
College,  on  "Jonathan  Dickinson  and  the  College  of 
New  Jersey,"  and  in  the  evening  a  discourse  by  tlie 
Pastor  on  "  Caldwell  and  the  Revolution." 

The  church  was  appro j)riately  draped  for  the  occa- 
sion with  American  flags  and  other  insignia. 

3 


Prntcssor  rniiieroirs  disconise  was  (lelivere<l  in  the 
j)reseiice  of  a  large,  and  interested  congregation. 

In  the  evening  tlie  church  was  thronged  l)y  citizens 
of  Elizabeth  and  the  vicinity,  all  availalde  sitting  and 
standing  room  being  taken  within  a  few  moments  after 
the  doors  were  opened.  The  other  Presbyterian  con- 
gregations in  the  city  were  invited  to  parti('i]);ite  in 
the  evening  service,  and  their  churches  were  closed. 

In  the  evening  a  choir  of  about  thirty  voices,  under 
Mr.  W.  C.  Williams,  led  the  music.  An  opening  piece, 
"  Before  Jehovah's  Awful  Throne,"  was  sung.  Pro- 
fessor Cameron  invoked  the  Divine  blessing,  and  the 
congregation  then  sang  Hymn  124,  '"  Praise  Ye  Jeho- 
vah's Name."  Rev.  E.  C.  Ray,  of  the  Thii-d  Presby- 
terian Church,  read  the  Song  of  Moses  and  the  127th 
Psalm,  and  Rev.  Dr.  W.  C.  Roberts,  of  Westminster 
Church,  offered  prayer.  The  choir  then  sang  Men- 
delssohn's chorus,  "Judge  Me,  O  God."  Then  fol- 
lowed the  sermon  on  "  Caldwell  and  the  Revolution" 
by  Rev.  E.  Kempshall,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  church. 

After  the  sermon.  Rev.  Hugh  Smyth,  of  the  Second 
Presbytei'ian  Church,  offered  the  closing  prayer,  and  the 
choir  and  congregation  sang  "  America,"  closing  with 
the  Doxology.  Rev.  Mr.  Street,  of  Connecticut  Farms, 
pronounced  the  ])enediction,  and  the  exercises  were 
closed. 

The  Session  of  the  church  subsequently  passed  a 
resolution  requesting  a  copy  of  the  discoui'se  delivered 
by  the  Pastor  on  this  memorable  occasion  for  puldica- 
tion,  and  that  the  Trustees  proceed  to  have  the  sanie 
])ublished  in  pamphlet  form. 

In  accordance  with  the  request  of  the  Session,  the 
Trustees  have  caused  this  pamphlet  to  be  printed. 

4 


Caldwell  and  the  Revolution." 


"^?i(7  the  children  of  Judah  prevailed,  because  they  relied  upon 
the  Lord.  God.  of  their  fathers. — 2  Chkon.  Xlii,  18. 

On  the  niglit  of  the  25th  of  January,  1  780,  just  one 
hundred  years  ago  to-day,  tlie  church  edifice  which 
stood  upon  the  spot  where  we  are  now  assembled,  was 
destroyed  by  fire.  Tradition  relates  that  the  firing  of 
the  building  was  the  act  of  a  Tory  refugee,  whose 
parents  were  honored  members  of  this  church.  It  may 
l)e  quite  possible  that,  in  the  absence  of  positive  evi- 
dence as  to  the  person  ])y  wliom  this  crime  was  com- 
mitted, it  was  attril)uted  to  Cornelius  Hetfield,  Jr.,  be- 
cause of  the  well-known  intensity  of  his  hatred  for  the 
patriots,  and  his  readiness  to  engage  as  guide  to  any 
marauding  party  from  Staten  Island,  which  was  duriuo- 
the  Revolutionary  War  the  stronghold  of  the  British 
forces  near  New  Yoi'k,  and  the  refuge  of  Tories  and 
deserters.   The  New  Jerse)/  Journal  (the  first  number  of 

The  aim  of  the  writer  in  this  discourse  has  been  simply  to  present  a  succinct 
statement  of  leading  facts  of  interest  in  the  history  of  this  church,  during  the  cen- 
tury which  elapsed  from  its  origin  to  the  destruction  of  the  ehurch  edifice  in  1780  ; 
together  with  other  incidents  of  local  interest  more  immediately  related  to  the  War 
of  the  Revolution.  For  most  of  these  facts  the  writer  wishes  to  make  acknowledg- 
ment, in  the  fullest  manner,  of  his  indebtedness  to  the  Rev.  E.  F.  Hatfield,  D.  D., 
in  his  most  excellent  work,  "The  History  of  Elizabeth."  This  general  expression 
of  obligation  is  made  here,  as  it  was  not  convenient  to  make  it  in  every  instance  in 
the  progress  of  the  discourse. 


^^■llic•ll  jippeared  FeV).  IGtli,  1779)  of  tlie  27tli  Jaiiu.-iry, 
1  7S(),  makes  the  following  statement : 

"A  l)arty  of  tlie  enemy  consisting  of  about  three 
hundretl  infantry,  under  the  eonunand  of  Col.  Van 
Buskirk,  of  the  new  levies,  and  about  sixty  dragoons, 
said  to  ])e  under  the  conuuand  of  Capt.  Steward,  Avith 
several  refugees,  tlie  whole  in  nund)er  nearly  400, 
crossed  on  the  ice  from  Staten  Island  to  Trembly's 
Point,  about  three  miles  from  Eliza))eth  Town,  last 
Tuesday  night.  From  thence  they  were  conducted  l)y 
Cornelius  Hetfield,  Job  Hetfield  and  Smith  Hettield, 
their  principal  guides,  the  nearest  and  most  retired 
route  to  Elizabeth  Town.  They  entered  the  town  in 
two  divisions  before  the  alarm  was  sounded.  As  soon 
as  the  troops  that  were  in  town  (consisting  of  about 
sixty  men),  perceived  their  danger,  they  retreated  ;  how- 
ever, they  took  a  Mfijor  (Major  Williamson),  who  was 
commandant  of  the  place,  and  two  or  three  captains 
that  lodged  in  town  that  night,  and  a  few  troops. 
They  then  set  iire  to  the  Presbyterian  Meeting  and 
Court  House,  which  were  consumed ;  plundered,  in- 
sulted, and  took  off,  some  of  the  inhabitants,  and 
retreated  with  great  precipitation  1)}'  the  way  of  De 
Hart's  Point,  whose  house  they  likewise  consumed.'" 

Washington  speaks  of  the  event  two  days  after  as 
"  the  late  misfortune  and  disgrace  at  Elizabeth  Town.'' 
The  father  of  Cornelius  Hetfield,  Jr.,  had  been  a 
Trustee,  and  was  then  an  Elder  of  the  church.  "  As 
the  son  had  destroyed  their  cliurch  edifice,  so  the  father 
opened  the  doors  of  a  large  'Red  Store-house,'  on  the 
south  side  of  the  creek,  near  West  Water  Street,  that 
belonged  to  him,  which  was  fitted  up  for  tire  pui-})ose 
and  used  thenceforward  as  a  meeting-house.  This  ren- 
egade son  was  a  man  of  great  energy  of  character,  and 
of  commanding  infiuemce  among  the  refugees.  During 
the  previous  two  years  he  had  resided  on  Staten  Island, 

6 


continually  watching  opportunities  to  molest  and  cap- 
ture his  former  friends  and  neighbors."  He  was  after- 
ward tried  for  the  murder  of  one  Stephen  Ball  during 
the  war,  and  barely  escaped  being  hanged.  In  this 
connection  we  may  add,  that  in  an  unsuccessful  attempt 
to  capture  Gov,  Livingston,  then  residing  here  (in  the 
house  now  occupied  by  Col,  John  Kean),  and  Maxwell's 
brigade,  made  by  the  British  on  the  morning  of  Feb- 
ruary 25th,  1779,  the  barracks  and  the  Presbyterian 
parsonage,  then  used  as  barracks,  were  in  the  rage  of 
the  enemy  at  their  disappointment,  set  on  fire  and 
burned  down.  This  destruction  of  the  parsonage  in- 
volved the  irreparable  loss  of  all  the  church  records, 
save  a  few  account  books  which  were  lodged  in  some 
other  place.  The  school-house,  or  Academy,  adjoining 
the  Presbyterian  burying-ground,  which  had  been  used 
for  storing  provisions  for  the  troops,  was  also  fired  arid 
destroyed.  These  acts  of  wanton  destruction  of  prop- 
erty which  would  be  regarded  as  sacred  under  the 
ideas  which  obtain  now  in  civilized  warfare,  may  serve 
to  illustrate  the  reckless,  unscrupulous,  malicious 
character,  and  we  may  add,  the  fruitlessness  of  the 
attacks  which  were  made  by  the  British  upon  Eastern 
New  Jersey  during  the  Revolutionary  Wai'.  We  may 
form  a  very  fair  idea  of  the  external  appearance 
of  the  church-buildino;  which  was  standino;  here 
in  1780,  from  a  description  given  by  Captain  Wm, 
C,  DeHart  in  his  "  Passages  in  the  History  of 
Elizabeth  Town.''  "The  Court  House  was  a  small, 
frame,  shingle-covered  building,  which  had  never  been 
adorned  with  paint,  and  in  the  same  condition  and  style 
of  architecture  was  the  adjacent  building,  the  Presby- 
terian Meeting-house,  both  of  which  respectively  occu- 

7 


]>i«'<l  tlic  g'rouiid  \\]i(*i('(>ii  now  stand  tlic  strnctnrcs 
devoted  to  the  same  object.  The  clnirch  was  oi'ua- 
mented  })y  a  steeple  surmounted  by  a  ball  and  weather- 
cock, furnished  also  witli  a  clock.  It  was  tlie  most 
conspicuous  and  tlie  nicst  valual)l('  Ijuilding-  in  the 
town,  hallowed  as  the  structur(^  in  wliich  theii-  ])ilgrim 
fatliers  worshi])ed  God,  and  in  which  tliey  tliemselves, 
so  many  of  them,  liad  been  consecrated  to  (xod  in  bap- 
tism, and  in  which  the  great  and  revei'ed  Dickinson, 
the  honored  Spencer,  and  the  still  more  renowned 
Whitfield  had  preached  God's  avoixI." 

There  is  good  reason  for  believing  that  the  General 
Assemblies  held  under  the  Proprietors,  sat  in  this  house; 
and  that  so  also  did  the  Supreme  Court.  In  ITGT,  the 
pulpit  was  ornamented  by  the  ladies  with  an  "elegant 
set  of  curtains,  Avhich  cost  twenty-seven  pounds  ster- 
ling." For  many  years  there  was  a  part  of  the  church 
not  seated,  probably  reserved  as  a  L)l)by  for  the  accom- 
modation of  those  Avho  attended  the  Legislature  and  the 
Courts.  The  precise  date  at  which  the  first  church- 
edifice  was  erected  on  this  spot,  cannot  be  ascer- 
tained. In  the  early  settlement  of  the  town,  the 
"  town-house"  and  the  "  meeting-house"  were  one.  It 
is  more  than  probable  that  one  of  the  first  i)ublic  con- 
cerns of  the  original  Associates,  was  the  building  of 
their  "  meeting-house."  As  early  as  February  lOtli, 
1665,  they  held  a  "  meeting-court,"  at  which  the  whole 
town  was  present,  and  sixty-five  men  took  the  oath  of 
allegiance  and  fidelity  to  King  Charles  11.  A  house-of- 
worship  had  most  likely  been  built  before  this  date ; 
nothinir  cun  now  be  determined  as  to  its  size,  cost,  oi- 
arrangement. 

In  a,  letter  addressed  to  the  FJi:(iJ>eth  Dull  if  Journal 
8 


of  May  12,  IS 73,  Dr.  Hatfield  says:  "Tliroiigli  the 
kindness  of  a  friend  in  Philadelphia,  I  have  recently 
come  into  possession  of  an  original  document,  purport- 
ing to  be  an  agreement  or  contract  between  the  building 
committee  of  the  congregation  and  the  carpenters  by 
whom  the  old  Meeting-House  that  was  burned  down 
in  1780  was  built."  The  agreement  which  follows 
l)eai's  date  "this  twenty-fourth  day  of  February,  Anno 
Domini,  1 723-4,  and  in  the  tenth  year  of  our  sovereign 
Loi'd  King  George,  <fec.,"  and  is  signed  by  John 
Thompson,  Nathaniel  Bonnell,  Joseph  Woodruff,  David 
Morehouse,  Nathaniel  Bonnell,  Jr.  "  A  committee 
chosen  by  the  Presbyterian  Society  of  Elizabeth  Town 
for  taking  cai'e  of  biulding  a  Meeting-House  for  said 
society."  "  It  will  thus  be  seen,"  as  Dr.  Hatfield  adds, 
"that  the  house  was  l^uilt  in  the  summer  of  1724,  and 
was  58  feet  in  length  and  42  feet  in  width ;  and  that 
the  audience  room  was  24  feet  in  height.  '^  *  An 
addition  to  the  length  in  the  rear  of  1 G  feet  was  made 
in  1766,  so  that  its  final  dimensions  were  74  by  42  feet." 
The  lot  on  which  the  house  was  built  included 
the  present  burying-ground,  and  extended  on  the  West 
to  the  river  (so  called),  and  contained  about  eight  acres. 
When  the  church  property  was  surveyed  in  1766,  the 
Trustees  affirmed  "  that  the  first  purchasers  and  asso- 
ciates did  give  the  aforesaid  tract  of  land  for  the  use 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  the  record  of  which,  on 
or  al)out  the  year  1719,  was  either  lost  or  destroyed." 
This  statement  was  admitted  by  the  Town  Committee, 
and  has  constituted  the  only  title  of  record  to  the 
present  church  property  for  over  a  century  and  a  half. 
The  meeting-house  occupied  the  site  of  the  present 
church,  but,  as  it  was  much  smaller,  it    did  not    cover 


iiiucli,  if  nil}',  inoi'c  tliaii  the  tVoi.t  half,  the  other  half 
ontaining  tlij  graA^es  of  most  of  the  first  settlers. 
Graves  were  sometimes  dug  iiiidei-  the  floor  of  the 
church,  a  custom  familiar  to  the  early  settlers,  and  made 
dear  l)y  association  with  the  hahits  of  their  ancestors 
ill  England,  so  that  nearly  the  whole  area  of  this 
chui'ch  in  wdiich  we  are  now  gathered,  is  pi'ohabh-  oc- 
cupied with  the  dust  which  awaits  the  archaiiirers 
trunip,  of  the  first  two  or  three  generations  of  th(^ 
people  of  the  town.  It  is  prol)able  that  for  a  long 
time  the  church  and  adjoining  burial-ground  was  not 
enclosed,  or  if  at  all,  only  in  a  rude  way.  In  17(52, 
immediately  after  the  settlement  of  Rev.  Mr.  Caldwell, 
it  was  voted  by  the  Trustees  thai  "the  burial-orround 
be  enclosed  with  a  close,  cedar-board  fence;  also  agreed 
that  a  neat  pale-fence  be  built  to  enclose  a  court -3'ard 
in  the  front  and  south  end  of  the  church." 

We  may  gather  some  idea  of  the  aj)pearance  of  the 
interior  of  the  church  at  the  time  it  was  destroyed,  from 
the  directions  c-iveii  bv  the  Trustees  to  the  new  sexton, 
William  Woodruff,  elected  March,  I  7()()  :  "  Once  every 
three  months  the  alle^^s  below  the  pulpit-stairs  and 
gallery-stairs  must  be  washed  out  and  well  sanded. 
For  evening  lectures  you  are  to  get  the  candles,  such 
as  the  Trustees  shall  direct,  and  illuminate  the  church 
in  every  part,  and  at  the  conclusion  of  prayer  l)efore 
sermon,  you  are  immediately  to  go  up  and  snufr  the 
pulpit  candles  and  the  rest  of  the  candles  in  the  church. 
When  you  judge  the  sermon  to  be  about  half  finished, 
you  are  once  more  to  snuff  the  candles  in  the  pulpit, 
and  at  the  Clerk's  desk."  (The  most  serious  objection 
to  this  rule,  would  be  the  suspicion  that  the  sexton 
might  be  open  to  outside  influences  to  snuff  the  candles 


prematurely.)  ''  Ycni  are  to  be  very  careful  of  the  silk 
hangings  and  cushions,  that  they  receive  no  injury  by 
dust  spots.  You  are  to  see  that  the  pulpit  door  be 
always  opened  ready  for  the  minister's  entrance,  and 
the  bible  opened  on  the  cushion.  Yon  ai'e  to  prevent,  as 
much  as  in  you  lies,  all  undue  noises  and  disorders,  and 
suffer  no  ivhite  hoys  or  girls  to  be  standing  or  sitting 
on  the  gallery  or  pulpit  stairs,  and  if  at  any  time  you 
cannot  prevent  unruly  behavior  during  divine  service, 
you  ai-e  immediately  to  step  to  one  of  the  Magistrates 
()r  Elders  present,  and  infoi'm  them  of  the  same.  You 
are  weekly  to  wind  up  and  regulate  the  church-clock." 
Such,  as  nearly  as  we  are  able  to  present  it  to  you,  "was 
the  venerable  church  edifice  in  its  external  and  internal 
appearance,  and  in  its  surroundings.  "  The  church  in 
which  Caldwell  preached,"  says  Dr.  Murray  in  his  notes, 
"was  cheerfully  yielded  as  a  hospital  for  sick  and 
disabled  and  wounded  soldiers,  as  some  of  the  aged 
ones  yet  among  us  testify  ;  it  was  its  bell  that  sounded 
through  the  town  the  notes  of  alarm  on  the  approach 
of  the  foe;  its  floor  was  not  unfrequently  the  bed  of 
the  weary  soldier,  and  the  seats  of  its  pews  the  table 
from  which  he  ate  his  scanty  meal." 

Sad,  sad  indeed,  to  the  hearts  of  parents  and  chil- 
dren who  were  wont  to  gather  here  to  worshij)  the 
God  of  their  fathers,  were  the  tidings  which  on  the 
2()th  of  January,  1780,  rapidly- spread  throughout  the 
scattered  congregation,  that,  of  the  dear  old  church, 
nothing  now  was  left  but  a  lieaj)  of  ashes.  But  the 
faith  in  God  and  the  love  of  liberty,  which  had  been 
taught  for  generations  in  that  venerable  edifice,  were 
lodged  in  the  hearts  of  that  congregation  beyond  the 
reach   of  the  Tory's  torch.     And  the  cowardly  act  of 


wanton  destruction  of  the  lioiise-of-worsliip  so  dear  to 
them,  only  fired  tJieir  hearts  to  more  absolute  sacrifice 
of  whatever  should  be  demanded  to  make  good  })e- 
fore  tlie  world  that  Declaration  of  Independence  of 
British  rule  to  which  one  of  theii*  own  members  had 
si«]^ned  his  name,  and  nerved  their  arnis  to  strike  with 
heavier  blow,  until  by  God's  blessing,  independence 
achieved,  rhey  could  again  erect  over  the  ashes  of  their 
dead,  and  over  the  ashes  of  their  huml)le  ''  meeting- 
house,'' a  house  of  worship.  None  will  (piestion  that 
the  character  of  the  men  who  laid  the  foundations  of 
the  Colonies  which  became  the  United  States  of 
America,  had  very  much  to  do  in  determining  the  views 
and  principles  of  their  descendants  who  united  in  the 
grand  struggle  of  the  Revolution.  This  was  emphati- 
cally the  case  in  regard  to  the  early  settlers  of  Elizabeth 
Town,  one  of  the  first  points  occupied  in  the  history 
of  New  Jersey.  On  the  28th  day  of  October,  1664, 
a  tract  of  land,  about  500,000  acres,  embracing  the 
whole  of  what  are  now  the  counties  of  Union,  Morris, 
and  j)art  of  Essex  and  Somerset,  was  purchased  of  the 
Indians  by  John  Baker,  John  Ogden,  John  Bayley  and 
Luke  Watson,  who  acted  for  themselves  and  their 
associates.  This  purchase  was  made  by  these  men, 
who  were  residents  of  Long  Island,  with  reference  to 
a  speedy  settlement  upon  the  purchase.  ''  It  is  safe 
to  conclude,"  says  Dr.  Hatfield,  "that  ground  was 
broken  for  the  settlement  of  the  town  as  early  as  in 
November,  1664,  and  that  in  the  spring  of  1665  a 
considerable  number  of  the  associates  for  whom  the 
land  had  ])een  purchased,  arrived  with  their  wives  and 
children,  and  took  possession  of  their  new  homes  in 
Achter  Kol,"  the  name  given  by  the  Dutch  to  Newai'k 


Bay,  meaning  "behind  the  bay,"  and  also  extended  to 
the  region  West  of  the  North  River.  The  same  year, 
1G64,  the  Dnke  of  York  having  by  patent  from  Charles 
II.  the  right  of  sale,  conveyed  to  Lord  Berkeley  and 
Sir  George  Carteret,  who  were  of  the  Conrt  of  Charles, 
the  territory  lying  to  the  West  of  the  Hudson  and 
East  of  the  Delaware,  known  as  Nova  Cseserea,  or  New 
Jersey  (after  the  isle  of  Jersey,  of  which  Carteret's 
father  was  Deputy  Governor.)  Capt.  Philip  Carteret, 
a  distant  relative  of  Sir  George,  was  sent  out  to  be- 
come Governor  of  the  territory  for  the  Proprietors. 
He  arrived  at  what  is  known  in  history  as  Elizabeth 
Town  Point  in  August,  1  ()G5,  and  was  well  received  by 
Ogden  and  his  associates,  from  whom  he  purchased  an 
interest  in  the  land,  recognizing  the  validity  of  the 
grant  made  by  Gov.  Nicholls,  which  confirmed  to  Ogden 
and  his  friends  the  purchase  from  the  Indians.  At  this 
time,  as  is  probable,  the  town  received  its  name  Eliza- 
beth Town  from  'Elizabeth,'  the  name  of  the  wife 
of  Sir  (ireorge  Carteret.  Philip  Carteret,  who  was 
henceforth  called  Gov.  Cartei'et,  was  a  young  man  of 
about  2G  years  of  age  when  he  arrived.  He  married 
in  1681  the  widow  of  Capt  Lawrence  of  Long  Island; 
she  had  at  that  time  seven  children ;  two  (^f  them  died 
here  in  1G87,  and  were  buried  in  the  church-yard; 
their  monuments  may  be  seen  to-day  set  in  the  rear 
wall  of  this  building,  and  serve  as  history  written  in 
stone,  of  exceeding  interest.  In  the  plan  for  the  gov- 
ernment of  New  Jersey,  conveyances  and  agreements 
were  laid  down  "  to  and  witli  all  and  every  of  the  ad- 
venturers, and  all  who  shall  settle  and  plant  there," 
which  instrument  accorded  "  the  utmost  freedom  of 
conscience,  consistent  with  the  preservation  of  the  pub- 
is 


lie  pc.'icc  .'111(1  order,  in  iii.-ittcrs  jx'itniniiiL,^  to  ivligiou, 
iind  })i'()vi(led  every  practicable  sategufinl  for  political 
freetlom/'  It  committed  the  work  of  leijrislation  and 
taxation  to  a  Legislature,  of  which  the  pojnilar  branch 
were  to  be  chosen  directly  by  the  people;  and  thu«  early 
established  in  this  favored  Colony  the  doctrine,  for 
which  a  century  later  the  combined  Colonies  so  strenu- 
ously and  successfully  contended,  that  there  shall  be 
no  taxation  ivithout  re^yresentation^  that  the  2^so2jle  nuist 
have  a  direct  voice  in  tin;  raising  and  expending  oi 
money  for  government,  a  doctrine  of  which  John 
Bright  said  the  other  day  in  n  si)eech,  that  in  contend- 
ing: against  it  in  the  war  of  the  American  Revolntion, 
"  the  folly,  the  tyranny  of  George  III.  and  his  minis- 
ters, and  the  perverse  obstinancy  of  their  majority 
in  Parliament,  laid  the  foundation  of  the  American 
Iiej)ul^lic,''  A  doctrine  thus  handed  down  by  their  fore- 
fathers, the  men  and  women  who  worshiped  the  God 
of  their  fathers  in  the  old  church  of  1780,  true  to 
tlieir  sacred  trust,  maintained  with  unyielding  stead- 
fastness throughout  eight  years  of  war,  at  the  sacrifice 
of  husbands  and  sons,  of  their  Pastor  and  his  wife,  of 
their  house  of  worship,  their  parsonage,  and  in  in- 
stances not  a  few,  of  their  own  homes ;  and  in  the  end 
thei/  2y>'evailed  "  because  they  relied  upon  the  Lord 
(iod  of  their  fathers." 

The  early  settlers  of  this  town  ^vere  almost 
wholly  New  Englanders,  from  Long  Island  and 
Connecticut.  At  a  town  meeting  of  the  Freeh(^lders 
and  inhabitants  of  Elizabeth  Town,  held  Fel)ruary 
19th,  1()G5,  it  was  resolved  "  tliat  the  aforesaid  town 
shall  consist  of  four  scoiv  families  for  the  present." 
These  constituted  the  original  Associates ;  their  names 


to  the  number  of  sixty-five  are  appended  to  the  oath 
of  allegiance  to  King  Charles  II.,  Paken  at  the  same 
town  meeting.  A  biographical  sketch  of  each  of  these 
Associates,  founders  of  the  town,  is  given  in  Dr.  Hat- 
field's history,  the  remarkable  result  of  long,  patient 
and  minute  investigation,  for  wdiich  very  few  men 
were  so  extraordinarily  qualified  as  he.  "Of  these 
men"  he  says,  "  a  large  proportion,  nearly  all,  had 
brought  their  wives  with  them  ;  some  of  them  had 
several  children  also  ;  a  small  number  were  consider- 
ably in  yeais.  The  most  of  them,  however,  wera 
young,  vigorous,  robust  men,  between  the  ages  of 
twenty-iive  and  forty,  just  the  men  to  lay  the  founda- 
tions of  many  generations."  The  town  was  founded, 
not  by  Carteret,  but  by  Ogden,  Watson,  Baker  and  their 
personal  friends.  Among  them  we  find  names  such  as 
Ogden,  Crane,  Mosse  (or  Morse),  Tucker,  Price,  Bunnell, 
Whitehead,  Heathfield  (or  Hatfield),  Meacker,  Barber, 
and  others,  which  have  been  familiar  "  as  household 
words"  in  this  community  for  two  centuries.  They 
were  neighbors  and  friends  who  had  intermarried,  and 
when  they  met  here  they  met  as  old  acquaintances,  as 
one  people.  "  The  planters  of  this  town  had,  the  most 
of  them,  been  nurtured  under  the  Commonwealth. 
They  had  learned  almost  from  their  earliest  days  to  ab- 
jure the  divine  right  of  kings,  and  to  regard  the  House 
of  Stuart  wdtli  holy  aversion,  as  invaders  of  the  vested 
rights  of  the  people,  and  as  essentially  imperious 
despots.  They  had  been  trained  to  the  largest  liberty 
in  government.  They  met  and  deliberated,  made  and 
administered  the  laws,  and  took  measures  for  the  wel- 
fare of  the  peojile,  ^vith  none  to  molest  or  'make  them 
afraid.'  The  descendants  of  such  men  were  the  patriots 

15 


(►f  tlic  R<'V(>liiti(Hi:ii'\'  W.'ir,  ( 'ai'h'i-ct  .-md  his  coinjjjiny, 
on  the  other  liand,  were  Moiuirehists ;  diligently  and 
sacredly  taught  to  believe  in  the  divine  right  of  kings  ; 
to  be  jealous  for  the  royal  ])rerogative ;  to  hate  and 
abjure  both  Cromwell  and  the  Conuncunvealth  ;  to 
h)()k  with  contempt  upon  the 'round-heads,' and  to  make 
sj)(>rt  of  Puritan  strictness  in  religion  and  morals." 

Thus  was  established  in  the  early  settlement  of  the 
town,  wliat  might  be  called  a  Court  party.  Collisions 
between  them  and  th<'ir  descendants,  with  the  more 
democratic  sons  of  New  England,  were  to  be  ex})ected  ; 
and  they  came  in  the  days  that  tried  men's  souls  in  the 
struggle  for  Independence.  Bitter,  })ittei"  wideed  were 
the  oppositions  of  sentiment,  and  severe  the  retaliatory 
acts  which  divided  in  this  community  for  many  years, 
kinsmen  and  fellow  citizens.  On  the  one  hand,  royalists 
and  refugees  escaping  to  Staten  Island,  to  be  under  the 
British  flag;  and  on  the  other,  Cakhvell  and  the  de- 
voted patriots  who  followed  his  leading ;  defending  as 
best  they  could  from  behind  stone  and  rail  fences,  or  on 
open  field,  through  summer  heats  and  winter  snows, 
through  loss  of  property  and  of  life,  the  doctrines  and 
ti'aditions  so  dear  to  their  ancestors,  wdiich  were  em- 
l)odied  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

One  of  the  most  influential  founders  of  the  t()\\'n, 
the  man  who  left  the  strongest  imprint  of  his  (nvn 
sterling  character  upon  the  little  community,  and  one 
whose  numerous  descendants  to  this  day  make  mention 
of  with  honoralfle  pride,  was  -John  Ogden,  one  of  the 
four  original  Patentees,  He  was  born  in  Stamford, 
Connecticut,  and  came  to  this  place  fi'om  Northamjiton, 
Long  Island.  "  He  was  among  the  very  first,  with  his 
five  full  grown  boys,   John,   Jonathan,    David,  Joseph 

i6 


and  Benjamin,  to  remove  to  the  new  purchase  and  erect 
a  dwelling.  A  true  patriot,  and  a  genuine  Christian, 
he  devoted  himself  while  living  to  the  best  interests  of 
the  town  ;  and  dpng,  bequeathed  to  his  sons  the  work 
of  comj)leting  what  he  had  so  fairly  and  effectually  in- 
augurated, the  cxtahlishment  of  a  rigorous  plantation 
founded  on  the  principles  of  ciril  and  religious  liherty.'''' 
Having  sought  to  trace  up  to  their  fountain  head, 
— viz.,  the  character  of  the  men  who  laid  the  foundation 
stones  of  this  community, — those  iniluences  which 
wrought  through  successive  generations  to  make  the 
congregation  which  worshiped  on  this  spot  in  1780 
almost  a  unit  in  suppoi'ting  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
j)endence,  it  will  l)e  necessary  to  pass  more  rapidly  over 
the  events  which  followed,  and  to  confine  our  attention 
for  a  few  moments  more  immediately  to  the  concerns  of 
the  church  itself.  .  It  cannot  be  detei'mined  with  ex- 
actness who  served  the  people  as  Pastor,  or  pulpit  sup- 
ply, for  the  first  few  years  from  the  date  of  the  first 
settlement.  Dr.  Hatfield  says  "  it  is  safe  to  conclude 
that  Mr.  Jeremiah  Peck  came  to  this  town  from  Newark 
as  early  as  1G68,  on  invitation  of  the  people,  to  serve 
them  in  the  ministry  of  the  gospel,  and  that  he  is  to  be 
regardt^d  as  the  first  Pastor  of  the  church  in  this  place." 
In  the  autumn  of  1678,  he  accepted  a  call  to  Green- 
wich, Conn.  He  was  succeeded  in  1 G80  by  Rev.  Seth 
Fletcher.  He  came  from  Southampton,  and  became 
Minister  of  this  town  in  the  summer  or  autumn  of  1080. 
His  death  occurred  in  August,  1682.  For  five  years 
subseipient  to  his  death,  the  church  was  without  a 
Pastor.  On  September  oOth,  1087,  the  Rev.  John  Har- 
riman  was  installed  Pastor  of  this  church ;  he  died  here 
in  August,  1705,  and  his  monument  stands  in  the  ad- 

17 


joining"  cliin'cli-wii-d.  Soon  after  his  ciitcriiiLi'  on  the 
])astoriil  work  here,  he  t)})eiied  an  accoiuit  witli  every 
one  of  tlie  sii])scri])er8  to  his  su|)])oit.  These  aceoxuits 
were  ke])t  in  two  ])()()ks;  the  second,  from  1  ()!)4  to  1  705,  is 
now  in  possession  of  the  Session.  The  whole  nnnd)er  of 
actual  subscribers  was  1  :^4.  Tlie  subscriptions  amounted 
to  <£So  1  is.  Od.  A  very  small  pai't  only  of  the  su])scrip- 
tions  ^v'ere  paid  in  cash,  tlie  most  of  them  are  credited 
witli  produce,  meat,  grain,  and  vegetal )les ;  many  of 
them  witii  lal)or  l)y  the  day  on  the  fai'm,  or  in  building 
or  reiniiiing  his  house  or  })arn.  The  woi'k  of  a  Pastor 
was  evidently  not  so  circumscribed  as  at  the  present 
day.  Besides  j)reacliing,  ])astoral  visitation,  farming, 
carrying  on  a  Hour  mill  and  a  cider  press,  Mr.  Harriman 
had  an  agency  for  fiu'uishing  glass  to  his  neighl)oi's. 
lie  surveyed  lands  now  and  then,  he  attended  the  Leg- 
islature as  a  Deputy  tlirougli  four  years,  and  like  most 
of  his  profession  in  those  days,  he  kept  a  boarding- 
school  ;  he  dealt  also  consideral)ly  in  real-estate.  We 
find  the  following  enti-y  in  his  account  book,  suggestive 
of  an  institution  then  almost  universally  recognized  in 
the  Colonies,  the  wiping  out  of  which  has  l)ut  just  cost 
our  country,  in  blood  and  treasure,  a  price  immeasurably 
beyond  that  of  the  Independence  of  the  Colonies — and 
to  aid  in  this  glorious  I'esult,  not  a  few  here  carried  a 
musket  under  the  old  flag  before  us — I  mean  davenj. 
"We  bought  the  negro  Toney,  August  14th,  1697,  of 
Charles  Tooker,  Jr.,  for  £48,"  and  again  "  October  20th, 
1701,  bought  of  Mr.  James  Evert  an  Indian  girl  named 
Hagar,  for£19  10s."  During  the  conflict  from  1(;88 
to  1702,  l)etween  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  and  the 
so  called  Proprietors,  which  was  at  one  time  so  bitter 
as    to    be  properly  called    "revolutionary,"    and     was 


terminated  by  tlie  arrival  of  a  royal  comniission  in  1703, 
bringing  to  a  perpetual  end  the  Proprietary  Govern- 
ment of  East  Jersey,  Mr.  Harriman  stood  bravely  forth 
as  the  representative  of  i)opiilar  rights,  and  in  his  dis- 
courses from  the  pulpit,  as  well  as  in  his  daily  inter- 
coui-se  with  the  ])eople,  set  the  example  of  resistance  to 
oppression,  and  maintenance  of  the  just  rights  of  the 
people,  which  was  followed  so  zealously  by  Caldwell 
in  177(). 

During  the  ministry  of  Rev.  Samuel  Melyen,  who 
succeeded  Mr.  Harriman,  the  first  Episcopal  congrega- 
tion of  this  town  was  gathered ;  the  E])iscopal  portion 
of  the  community  having  l)een  contented  for  foi'ty 
years  to  worshi])  w^tli  their  Puritan  neighl)ors,  beside 
whom  also,  when  their  life-work  was  done,  they  were 
content  to  lie  in  the  old  chiu'ch-yard,  where  to-day  occa- 
sionally are  interred,  ])eside  the  dust  of  their  honored 
ancestors,  the  descendants  of  E])iscopal  families,  resi- 
dent here  befoiv  the  foundations  of  St.  John's  Church 
were  laid. 

The  ministry  of  Mr.  Melyen  was  short.  The  church 
did  not  remain  long  without  a  Pastor;  for  on  the  29th 
of  Septerabei",  1  709,  Jonathan  Dickinson  was  ordained 
and  installed  as  ])astor  of  this  clnu'ch.*  He  was  born 
April  22,  l(i88,  at  Hatfield,  Mass.  His  early  life  was 
mostly  spent  in  Springfield.  Yale  College  went  into 
operation  in  1 702  ;  young  Dickinson  entered  the  Col- 
lege the  same  year,  and  was  graduated  in  170G.  Co:i- 
cerning  his  theological  studies,  and  his  licensure  to 
preach,  we  have  no  information.  He  came  here  in 
1708,  being    then    not   (juite   twenty-one  years  of  age. 

*  The  following  sketch  of  the  life  and  work  of  Dickinson  was  not  delivere  1 
with  the  discourse,  but  is  inserte  1  here  in  order  It  complete  the  history  of  the 
church  during  the  century. 

19 


He  \\'a<  oidaiiicd,  aftci-  preacLini^  lici'c  tor  a  sliort  tliiK% 
l>y  a  Couiu-il  of  Congregational  Ministers  from  Stam- 
ford, P^iirtield  and  Norwalk,  Ct.  His  iield  of  labor 
extended  as  far  to  tlie  West  as  Westfield.  "  Neither 
cliiircli  iioi'  minister  was  yet  to  l)e  foinid  in  the  regions 
])evond  toward  tlie  setting  sun.  It  Avas  the  extreme 
])order  of  eivilization.  It  was  a  weiglity  charge  to  be 
laid  on  such  yonthful  shonhU^'s.  Qui«4ly  and  diligently 
he  a])})lied  himself  to  his  \\-oi'k,  and  his  ])rofiting  ])re- 
sently  aj)])eared  to  all.  It  was  not  long  before  he  took 
I'ank  among  the  first  of  his  ])rofession/' 

Previous  to  Dickinson's  settlement  as  Pastor,  this  eh  ui'ch 
had  been  Tnde])endent  oi'  Congregational,  in  its  form  of 
govei-nmeiit ;  not  until  forty  years  aftei-  its  organization 
was  the  first  Pres})ytery,  the  Presbytery  of  Philadel])liia, 
constituted.  Dickinson,  whose  symjmthies  were  })rob- 
ably  (juite  decidedly  with  Presl)yterianism,  })roceeded 
with  a  wise  caution  in  the  matter  of  bringing  his  church 
into  connection  with  Presbytery,  for  his  people  "were 
thorough  Puritans  and  men  of  spii-it,  and  slow  to  j)art 
with  what  they  conceived  to  be  theii'  rights.'"  It  is 
probable  that  he  united  with  the  Presbytery  of  Phila- 
delphia in  the  Spring  of  171  7,  and  that  the  church  soon 
after  joined  the  same  Presbytery.  In  the  following- 
year,  Se])tember  19,  171H,  it  is  noted  in  the  rec(^rds  of 
Synod  that  "  Mr.  Dickinson  delivered  one  pound  t\velve 
shillings  from  his  congregation  of  Elizal)eth  Town  for 
the  fund  '  foi"  l)ious  uses.'  "  "  This,''  says  Dr.  Hatfield, 
"was  undoubtedly  the  first  conti'i))ution  for  Presby- 
terian purposes  ever  made  by  this  congregation."  The 
chui-ch  was  re])resented  in  Synod  foi-  the  first  time  in 
1721,  by  one  of  their  eldei's,  Robert  Ogden,  a  grandson 
of  "Old   John   Ogden."      It    is    worthv  of   remark  in 


passing,  that  having  l)een  chosen  Moderator  of  Synod 
for  that  year,  in  his  opening  sermon  before  Synod  the 
f oHowing  year  he  discussed  the  question  of  ecclesiastical 
jurisdiction;  a  "vexed  question"  at  that  time  between 
those  who  favored  on  tlie  one  hand  the  more  rigid,  or 
on  the  other  the  more  lil)eral  ai)plication  of  the  Pres- 
byterian system.  In  a  paper  which  was  prepared  by 
Dickinson,  and  imanimously  ado])ted  by  Synod,  "  the 
j^ower  of  the  keys  is  accorded  to  the  church  otlicers, 
and  to  them  only  ;  care  is  taken  to  distinguish  between 
legislative  acts  binding  on  the  conscience,  and  orderly 
regulations  conformed  to  God's  woi'd  ;  and  the  I'ight  of 
a])peal  from  the  lower  to  the  higher  Court  is  admitted." 
We  mention  this  as  showing  tliat  the  same  jealous 
regard  for  the  riglits  of  the  peo})le,  ecclesiastical  as  well 
as  civil,  which  had  characterized  this  congregation  fi'om 
its  infancy,  was  still  maintained  by  Pastor  and  people, 
and  continued  to  exercise  a  moulding  iniluence  which 
told  most  eifectively  u])on  the  attitude  of  the  congre- 
gation when  the  hour  arrived  in  which  their  descend- 
ants wei'e  called  u])on  to  decide  for  or  against  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  The  iniluence  of  Dickin- 
son, and  his  hold  upon  the  confidence  and  respect  of 
the  church  at  large,  inci'eased  every  year.  His  consti- 
tutional love  of  liberty,  and  unwillingness  to  impose  as 
I)inding  upon  others,  creeds  or  confessions  which  he  him- 
self could  freely  adopt,  led  him  to  oppose  with  all 
the  weight  of  his  great  iniluence  in  the  Synod  of  1  7129  a 
proposition  to  require  of  every  minister  and  candidate 
a  hearty  assent  to  the  Westminster  Confessions  and 
Catechisms.  But  he  succeeded,  as  before,  by  the  exer- 
cise of  practical  wisdom  and  Christian  foi'bearance  in 
uniting  the  actic^n  of  Synod    in    favor  of  the  measure 


pro])<>s('(l     l)y    liiiii,    and     known     nftcrwar.l     as    "the 
Adopting  Act." 

In  the  controversy  with  tlie  East  Jersey  Pro- 
]>rietors,  he  took  an  active  ])art  in  aidinir  Iiis 
])eo])le  in  defending  their  chiinis  to  tlicii-  jnoiuTty,  and 
proved  himself  to  ]>e  ''an  invalna1)h^  counsehn'  and 
orii:anizei'  in  defense  of  ])opuhir  riglits ;  ever  standing- 
witli  his  ])eo])le  in  all  the  sti-aits  and  trials  growing  ont 
of  the  litigations  with  which  they  were  so  sorely  dis- 
turlx'd."  Amidst  his  archious  lalxM-s  as  a  Pastor,  he 
found  time  to  give  some  attention  to  the  study  of  medi- 
cine, and  "accpiired  a  high   reputation  as  a  Physician." 

Dickinson  sought  to  opi)ose,  with  all  his  ability,  the 
spirit  of  scepticism  which  was  prevalent  at  that  tini", 
])eing  made  fashionable  through  the  writings  of  Hobbes 
and  Tindal,  and  others.  He  preached  a  series  of  dis- 
courses u])on  "The  Reasonableness  of  Christianity" 
which  were  ind)lished  in  17:^2,  and  are  spoken  of  as 
"  truly  admirable  discourses,  learned,  discriminating  and 
logical;  full  of  pith  and  power;  pointed  and  im])res- 
sive."  As  a  controvertist,  both  in  matters  of 
religious  doctrine  and  forms  of  church-governriient, 
Jonathan  Dickinson  had  few  ecpials  in  the  chui-ch  in 
his  day.  His  wi'itings  were  widely  circulated,  and  as 
widely  praised.  In  173S  he  pTd)lished  "The  Reasona- 
bleness of  Nonconformity  to  the  Church  of  England, 
in  Point  of  Worship,"  and  in  1741  "The  True  Scrip- 
ture Doctrine  concerning  some  im])ortant  Points  of 
Christian  Faith."  This  work  has  re])eatedly  ])een 
rei)rinted  in  Great  Bi'itain  and  America.  In  order  to 
meet  the  feeling  of  o})j)osition  to  "the  great  a^vaken- 
ing,"  he  prepared  and  published  at  Boston  in  1  742  "  A 
Disj)lay  of  God's  Special  Grace,  in   a  familiar  dialogue 


l)etween  a  miiiistei'  and  a  gentlemen  of  his  congrega- 
tion, about  the  Work  of  God  in  the  Conviction  and 
Conversion  of  Sinners."  "  No  contemporaneous  pul)- 
lication"  says  Pi-esident  Green,  "was  probably  as  much 
read  or  had  as  much  inHuence.".  In  1745  he  wrote 
"Familiar  Letters  to  a  Gentleman,  upon  a  variety  of 
Seasonable  and  Important  Sul)jects  in  Religion."  This 
book  has  remained  among  the  standard  works  on  the 
evidences  of  Chi-istianity,  and  the  doctrine  of  God's 
sovei'eign  grace  in  the  redemption  of  man.  It  has  l:)een 
frequently  reprinted  at  home  and  abroad,  and  may  be 
found  to-day  on  the  catalogue  of  the  Presbyterian 
Board  of  Publication.  Many  of  his  discourses  upon 
special  occasions,  and  pamphlets  upon  intei'esting  topics 
of  the  day,  were  also  .published  at  difFerent  times. 

Notwithstanding  the  multitude  of  subjects  which 
claimed  his  attention  as  a  Pastor  and  author,  he  became 
deeply  intei'ested  in  the  condition  of  the  Indians  in 
New  Jersey  and  the  adjacent  Provinces.  After  his 
removal  to  New  Jersey,  David  Brainerd,  the  devoted 
Ajiostle  to  the  Indians,  "found  in  Mr.  Dickinson  a 
faithful  counselor  and  devoted  friend,  and  in  his  house 
an  ever-Welcome  home.  Here — during  his  last  winter 
on  earth — he  remained  for  nearly  six  months,  in  so  low 
a  state  much  of  the  time  that  his  life  was  almost 
despaired  of." 

It  was  mainly  through  the  influence  of  Mr, 
Dickinson  that  an  effort  was  made  toward  estab- 
lishing a  College  in  New  Jersey.  It  is  stated  that 
he  had  foi'  years  taught  a  classical  school  himself,  or  at 
least  had  received  yoimg  men  into  his  family  who  were 
studying  for  the  ministry.  The  pi-oject  of  a  College 
was  laid  before  Synod   in  1  7o9,  and    a    committee  was 

23 


ap])oiiite<l,  of  wliioli  ^\v.  Dickinson  was  a  nieni])t'r,  to 
oV)tain  aid  from  Great  Britain.  An  api)lifation  for  "  a 
Cljarter  to  inc*or])orate  snndry  persons  to  foi-ni  a  Col- 
lege" was  made  and  granted  under  the  great  seal  of 
tlie  Province  of  New  Jersey,  October  21),  1  74(),  Under 
this  Chaitei'  Mr.  Dickinson  was  ap])ointed  one  of  the 
"Trustees  of  the  said  College.''  On  A])ril  20,  1747, 
tile  following  notice  aj)peared  in  the  New  York  Weekly 
J^ost  J^oi/:  "This  is  to  inform  the  Publick,  Tliat  the 
Trustees  of  the  Colledge  of  New^  Jersey,  have  ap- 
])ointed  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jonathan  Dickinson,  J^residetit  of 
the  said  Colledge;  wdiich  will  be  o])ened  the  fourth 
week  in  May  next,  at  Elizabeth  Town  ;  at  w^liich  time 
and  ])lace  all  Persons  suitably  qualified,  may  be  admit- 
ted to  an  Academic  Education." 

At  the  time  specified,  the  first  term  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey  was  opened  at  Mr.  Dickinson's  house,  on 
the  south  side  of  the  old  Ralnvay  Road,  directly  West 
of  Race  Street.  Among  the  first  graduates  of  the 
Institutidn — which  as  Princeton  College,  stands  to-day 
in  tlie  very  front  rank  of  American  Colleges,  an  honor 
to  the  State,  and  the  ol'ject  of  a  just  pride  and  affec- 
tion on  the  part  of  its  nuraei'ous  alumni — were  the 
Rev.  Hugh  Henry,  Richard  Stockton  of  Princeton, 
and  Rev.  Daniel  Thane,  afterward  Pastoi-  of  the  church 
of  Connecticut  Farms.  These  had  all  been  undei'  ihe 
instruction  of  Mr.  Dickinson. 

The  laying  of  the  foundations  of  thisno]>le  Institution 
seems  to  have  been  reserved  in  the  providence  of  (rod, 
for  the  crowniing  Avork  of  a  life  of  eminent  usefulness. 
On  the  seventh  day  of  October  of  the  same  year,  1747, 
having  finished  his  w^ork  on  earth,  he  entered  into  rest. 
For  forty  years  he  had  served  Chi'ist  as  l\'istor  of  this 

24 


cinircli.  A  man  endowed  of  (lod  witli  great  and 
unusually  versatile  talent,  his  life-work  bore  testimony 
to  the  unreservedness  of  his  consecration  of  all  his 
gifts  to  the  service  of  Christ  through  the  church  he 
loved.  As  an  expression  of  the  esteem  in  which  he 
was  held  by  his  contemporaries,  we  feel  constrained  to 
make  room,  just  here,  for  the  following  notice  of  his 
death  and  burial  which  appeared  in  the  New  York 
Weekly  Post  Boij  of  October  12,  1  747  : 

Elizabethtown  in  Ne\v  Jersey,  Oct.  10. 

On  Wednesday  Morning  last,  about  4  o'clock,  died 
hei'e  of  a  i)leuritic  illness,  that  eminently  learned,  faith- 
ful and  pious  Minister  of  the  Gospel,  and  President  of 
the  College  of  New  Jersey,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jonathan 
Dickinson,  in  the  (JOth  Year  of  his  Age,  who  had  been 
Pastor  of  the  First  Pres])yterian  Church  in  this  Town 
for  nearly  forty  Years,  and  was  the  Glory  and  Joy  of 
it.  In  him  conspicuoiisly  appeared  those  natural  and 
acijuii-ed  moral  and  spiritual  Endowments  which  con- 
stitute a  truly  excellent  and  valuaT)le  Man,  a  good 
Scholar,  an  eminent  Divine,  and  a  seiious  devout 
Christian.  He  was  greatly  adorned  with  the  Gifts  and 
Graces  of  his  Heavenly  Master,  in  the  Light  whereof 
he  appeared  as  a  Star  of  superior  Brightness  and 
Influence  in  the  Orb  of  the  Chui'ch,  which  has  sus- 
tained a  great  and  unspeakable  Loss  in  his  Death.  He 
was  of  uncommon  and  very  extensive  Usefulness.  He 
boldly  appeared  in  the  Defence  of  the  great  and  im- 
])ortant  Truths  of  our  most  holy  Religion  and  tlie 
Gospel  Doctrines  of  the  free  and  sovereign  Grace  of 
God.  He  was  a  zealous  Promoter  of  godly  Practice 
and  godly  Living,  and  a  bright  Ornament  to  his  Pro- 
fession. In  Times  and  Cases  of  Difficulty  he  was 
a  ready,  wise  and  able  Counsellor.  By  his  Death  our 
infant  College  is  deprived  of  the  Benefit  and  Advan- 
tage of  his  superior  Accomplishments,  which  afforded 

25 


a  favorable  Pros])eot  of  its  futniv  Floiirislilno-  and 
l-*r(>>])('i'itv  uii<ler  liis  Inspection.  His  remains  wen- 
decently  interred  liere  Yesterday,  when  the  Kev.  Mr. 
Pierson,  of  Woodbridge,  pi'eaclied  his  fiuiei-al  Sermon, 
and  as  he  lived  <lesired  of  all  so  ncvei-  any  Person  in 
these  Parts  died  more  lamente(l.  ( )nr  fathei's  wIkmv 
are  they  and  llie  Proi)hets,  do  they  live  forever^ 

To  the  aboye  testimony  may  l)e  added  such  words 
as  those  of  Jonathan  Edwards  who  called  him  "the 
late  learned  and  yery  excellent  Mr.  Jonathan  Dickin- 
son." The  Rev.  Di-.  Bellamy  called  him  "the  great 
Mr.  Dickinson."  The  Kev.  Dr.  John  Ei-skine,  '  of 
Edinbni'gh,  said,  "The  British  Isles  have  ])i'()dnced  no 
such  writers  on  divinity  in  the  eighteenth  century  as 
Dickinson  and  Edwards."  "  It  may  be  doubted,"  says 
Dr.  Sjn-ague  in  his  "  Annals,"  "  \yhether  with  the  single 
exception  of  the  elder  Edwards,  Calvinism  has  ever 
found  an  abler  or  more  efKcient  chani])ion  in  this 
country  than  Jonathan  Dickinson."  "His  name,"  says 
Dr.  Hatfield,  "during  the  nearly  forty  years  of  his 
ministry,  gave  the  town  itself  a  prominence  both  in 
the  province  and  in  the  country." 

The  liev.  Elihu  S])encer  began  to  sup})ly  the 
j)ulpit  in  the  s})ring  of  1  749.  He  remained  Pastor  of 
this  church  about  seven  years.  Soon  after  his  depar- 
ture, Kev.  Abraham  Kettletas  sui)i)lied  the  ])uli)it. 
His  ministry  continued  nearly  thi-ee  and  a  half  years. 
The  accounts  of  the  treasurer  of  the  congregation, 
Samuel  Woodruff,  show  that  the  salary  of  Mr.  Kettle- 
tas was  ])aid  by  regular  ^veekly  contributions  on  the 
Sal)bath.  They  also  show  that  in  the  s])ring  of  1  750, 
the  belfry  of  the  church  was  provided  with  a  town- 
clock,  probably  for  tlie  first  time  ;  at  whose  expense 
it     was     provided      is    left     to    conjecture.       It     had 


26 


1)ut  one  face,  fortunately  foi'  the  comnmnity,  and 
therefore  could  not  acc()ni])lish  tlie  marvelous  but 
disap])ointing  feat,  of  |)resenting  at  a  given  hour 
of  the  day  four  diffei'ent  indexes  of  time  upon 
foui'  different  facjes,  as  has  been  frequentl)'  done 
by  the  ingenious  contrivance  which  at  present 
occupies  its  place.  The  same  ohi  account  l)ook  tells 
other  tales.  In  several  ])laces  is  found  a  charge  as  fol- 
lows :  "To  one  (piart  of  rum  Is.  4d.,  su])plied  to  the 
men  repairing  the  old  church,^"'  and  in  "  June  24th, 
1758,  two  (piarts  of  I'um  at  2s.  Hd.,  foi*  ye  people  to  pry 
up  the  slee])e]'s.""  We  presume  that — to  borrow  Dr. 
Hatfiehrs  ex])ression  elsewhei'e — it  might  l)e  "  left  to 
conjectui-e"  whether  the  reference  in  this  charge  is  to 
"slee])ers"  in  the  pews  who  might  require  a  little  pry- 
ing up,  or,  as  is  more  ])robable,  to  give  Dr.  Hatfield's 
own  construction,  to  the  fact  "  that  the  tlooi'  of 
tlie  old  edifice  had  l)egun  very  seriously  to  feel  the 
effects  of  age."  Mr.  Kettletas  resigned  his  pastoral 
charge  in  July,  1  7(10,  and  was  succeeded,  after  a  vacancy 
in  the  ])ul])it  of  a  year  and  a  half,  by  the  Rev.  James 
Caldwell.  Mr.  Caldwell  ^vas  a  Virginian,  born  in 
Charlotte  Count}',  in  what  was  then  a  wilderness,  in 
April,  1  7o4.  The  ])lace  was  generally  known  as  the 
Caldwell  settlement.  It  may  be  interesting  to  add 
that  a  niece  of  his  was  the  mother  of  the  Hon.  John 
Caldwell  Calhoun  of  South  Carolina,  the  well-kno-wn 
Senator  and  prominent  statesman  of  the  South.  Mr. 
Caldwell  graduated  at  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  was 
licensed  to  preach  the  gos])el  b}-  the  Presbytery  of  Ne-\v 
Bnmswick  in  1  7<iO,  and  accepted  a  call  from  this  church 
in  Noveml)er,  1  7G1.  He  ^vas  at  that  time  in  the  twent}-- 
seventli  year  of  his  age,  "a  young  man  of  prepossessing 

27 


appearance,  and  of  nunc  than  oi-iliiiary  proniUe  as  a 
preacher  of  the  gospel/'  Mr.  C'ahlwell  was  married 
just  one  year  after  liis  entering  uj)on  his  pastoral  charge, 
to  Hannah,  danghter  of  John  Ogden  of  Newark.  Her 
father  was  the  givat-graiidson  of  the  John  Ogden  of 
whom  we  ha\'e  spoken  as  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  the 
town.  Dnring  the  fii'st  year  of  his  settlement  the 
"  A])ostolic  Whitfield"  ])reaelied  here  twiee  on  the  Sab- 
bath of  Novem))er  27th,  1  7(58,  as  he  had  doiu'  before  in 
the  davs  of  Dickinson,  and  as  had  also  David  Brainerd 
often  done.  We  may  remark  in  ])assing,  that 
we  can  trace  u])  to  about  this  date  the  origin 
of  two  customs  in  our  churches,  viz.,  the  raising 
of  the  cui'rent  expenses  of  the  c-hureh  by  ])ew- 
rents,  and  singing  by  choirs.  Up  to  this  time  eun-ent 
■expenses  had  been  met  l)y  Sabbath  collections,  and  all 
sins^iuijr  in  the  churches  was  eonsj^reo^ational,  led  bv  a 
Precentor.  In  May,  17<)7,  it  was  resolved  '' to  offer 
the  pews  in  the  enlarged  building  at  ])ublie  vendue, 
agreeable  to  certain  fixed  rates,  the  rents  to  be  paid 
(piarterly."  "  There  were  fe^v  country  churches  with  a 
choir  before  1 765  oi  1770,  and  they  certainly  did  not 
become  common  mitil  the  time  of  the  American  Ke vo- 
lution.*" It  may  be  worthy  of  remark  as  illustrating 
the  cyclical  tendency  of  all  thing-;  in  the  affairs  of  men, 
as  in  the  world  of  natui'e,  that  during  the  century  em- 
braced within  the  dates  of  1770  and  1S70,  all  the 
known  methods  of  conducting  and  aiding  the  nuisical 
part  of  church  service,  including  large  voluntary  choirs, 
a  selected  cpnu'tette  choir  with  liberal  salaiy,  organ, 
bass-viols  (the  introduction  of  which  so  aroused  at  the 
time  the  righteous  indignation  of  one  of  the  oldest 
Elders  of  the  chuivh),  and   clarionets,  with  other  brass 

28 


instniments,  Lave  been  tried  })y  this  chiuvli ;  returning 
at  last  to  the  "  old  wa}'  of  the  fathers,"  congregational 
singing  with  a  Precentor.  If,  however,  the  theory  of 
cyclical  movement  be  correct,  we  may  "  expect  about 
this  time"  as  the  Farmers'  Almanac  has  it,  "  a  change 
of  some  kind." 

We  must  hasten  to  enter  upon  the  stormy  period  of 
the  War  of  tlie  Revolution,  in  which  Pastor  and  people 
ill  this  old  histoi'ic  church  were  t(^  take  so  signal  a  part. 
The  parish  of  Mr,  Caldwell  included  the  whole  of 
Elizabeth  Town,  and  the  town  included  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  })resent  Union  County;  the  towns  of 
Union,  S])ringtield,  New  Providence,  Westiield 
Plainiield,  Railway,  Linden,  and  Clark,  liaving  since 
been  organized  out  of  the  ancient  territorial  domain 
of  Elizabethtown.  The  old  book  to  which  I  have 
referred,  shows  that  in  177(5,  there  were  three  hundred 
and  forty-five  pew-renters  and  subscribers  in  the  con- 
gregation. The  Ruling  Eldei's  at  that  time  were 
Cornelius  Heatfield,  John  Potter,  Samuel  Williams 
and  Benjamin  Winans;  Isaac  Woodruff,  Jonathan 
Williams,  Calel)  Halstead,  David  Ogden,  Isaac  Arnett, 
Jonathan  Price,  Trustees.  In  the  congregation,  at  the 
opening  of  the  Revolution,  were  sucli  men  as  William 
Livingston,  the  noble  Governor  of  the  State,  who, 
through  a  storm  of  obhxpiy  from  some  (^f  his  former 
friends,  and  of  bitter  and  unrelenting  hatred  and  jdot- 
tiiigs  against  his  life  on  the  })art  of  the  Tories  and  the 
British,  remained  steadfast  in  his  devotion  to  the  cause 
of  freedom,  to  the  final  victory.  Elias  Boudinot,  who 
served  oji  the  Staff  oi  Gen.  Livingston  ;  was  a])pointed 
by  Congress  Commissaiy-Genei'al  of  prisoners;  was 
Member  of  Congress   in    177H,    \7^\  and  1  7X2  ;  chosen 

39 


President  of  Coiigres:^  Nov.  2,  1  7^'2,  and  wlien  tlie 
treaty  of  j)eace  with  Great  Britain  was  latified,  April 
15th,  17H;^,  he  had  tlie  honor  of  utiixini'-  to  it  his  siij^- 
nature.  He  received  from  Yale  Collegv  in  171)0  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Law  s  ;  was  a  Trnstee  of  the  College 
of  New  Jersey  foi'  twenty-tliree  years,  and  in  l.SKJ  the 
■first  President  of  the  American  Bible  Society.  In  for- 
warding from  Phila<iel])hia,  while  Su|)ei-intendent  of  the 
Mint,  as  a  gift  to  the  Trustees  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
("hurch,  a  ])aii"  of  (degant  and  costly  cut-glass  chande- 
liers, he  said,  in  his  letter  bearing  date  Feb.  :^(Jth, 
IKOO,  of  the  church:  "The  many  ha})])y  hours  I  have 
spent  there,  make  the  remem})rance  of  having  been  one 
of  their  Society,  among  the  substantial  jdeasures  of  my 
life.'"  In  the  congregation  at  this  time  also,  was  x\l)ra- 
ham  Clark,  one  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence ;  he  had  long  been  a  member  of  the  Church, 
and  was  one  of  its  Trustees  from  1  78(5  to  1  7!)().  He 
was  chosen  seven  times  as  a  delegate  from  Ncav  Jersey  to 
the  Continental  Congress.  Here,  also,  were  the  Hon. 
Bo})^^:  Oix.len  {S])eakei'  of  the  Assend)ly  at  an  earlier 
day),  with  his  three  sons,  Bobert,  Matthias  and  Aaron, 
the  last  two  distinguished  officers  in  the  U.  S.  Army; 
the  Hon.  Stephen  Crane,  Speaker  of  the  Assemldy; 
Elias  Dayton,  and  his  son  Jonathan,  both  of  tliem  sub- 
seipiently  general  officers  of  the  Army,  and  the  latter 
Speaker  of  Congress;  William  Peartree  Smith,  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  civilians  of  the  day  ;  Olivei- Spencer 
and  Francis  Barber,  both  of  them  Colonels  (^f  the  Jer- 
sey Brigade,  from  whom  Gen.  Maxwell,  Conunandant 
of  the  Brigade,  received  on  all  occasions,  and  some  of 
them  of  a  trying  nature,  most  zealous  and  efficient  co- 
operation ;  and  otliei'   sucli   devoted  ])atriots,  not  a  few. 


"From  this  one  congregation  went  forth  over  forty  com- 
viissioirsd  oj/icevs  of  the  Continental  Army,  not  to  speak 
of  non-commissioned  oiftcers  and  privates,  to  fight  the 
battles  of  Independence."  The  names  of  thirty-nine  of 
them  are  given  in  a  foot-note  in  Dr.  HatfiehFs  History. 
An  honor  roll,  of  which  the  old  First  Cluu'ch,  with 
all  her  children,  has  a  right  to  be  ])rond  to-day !  These 
were  the  men  who,  with  their  neiglil)ors  and  friends, 
their  wives,  children  and  grandchildren  were  worship- 
ing the  God  of  their  fathers  in  the  venerable  shingle- 
covered  church,  when,  u])on  their  ears  fell  the  an- 
nouncement, startling  as  the  alarm-bell  at  night,  that 
the  British  Parliament  had  passed,  in  March  1 7(J4,  a 
resolution  declai'ing  the  intention  of  Government  to 
raise  a  revenue  in  America  by  a  duty  on  stamped  pa- 
per. Of  these  men,  Dr.  Hatfield  says :  "The  love  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty  and  the  hatred  of  despotism, 
they  had  inherited  as  almost  theii'  only  heritage."  But 
tliere  was  a  special  reason  why  this  odious  Stamp-Act 
aioused  in  tliis  comnumity  a  peculiar  determination  to 
resist  its  enforcement  to  the  bitter  end  ;  for  in  it  was 
violated  a  fundamental  principle  of  the  Constitution, 
under  which  they  and  their  fathers  had  been  born  and 
nui'tured.  It  was  2)rovi(le(l  by  the  concessions  of  Berk- 
'ley  and  Carteret,  in  respect  to  the  Governor  and  Coun- 
cil, that  "they  are  not  to  impose,  nor  suffer  to  be  im- 
posed, any  tax,  custom,  subsidy,  tallage,  assessment,  or 
any  other  duty  whatsoever,  upon ,  any  colour  or  j)re- 
teiise,  upon  the  said  province  and  inhabitants  thereof, 
other  than  what  shall  be  im])ose(l  by  the  authority  and 
consent  of  the  General  Asseud)ly."  When,  therefore 
the  ringing  voice  of  James  Otis,  of  Massachusetts  Col- 
ony, was  heard   proclaiming   tlu'oughout   the  Colonies, 

31 


tlu'  (loctiiiic  tliat  "Civil  ^•()V(M■lllll('nt  is  of  God,  and  tlie 
original  possessors  of  power  are  the  whole  peo])le,  and 
that  \inder  tlie  British  Constitution  the  Colonists  en- 
joyed the  right  in  th(Mi*  local  legislatures  of  (/orcrini/;/ 
tlieinselvefi'' — a  doctrine  \vhich  was  soon  comK-nsed  into 
the  po}mlar  apothegm,  ''no  I'epresentation,  no  tax," — it 
is  no  strange  thing  (when  ])arties  arose,  as  at  once 
they  did,  those  on  the  one  side,  called  Whigs,  Patriots, 
Sous  of  Li})erty ;  those  on  the  otiier,  Loyalists,  Tories 
and  Friends  of  GoveTument,)  that  the  "Sons 
of  Liberty"  were  found  here,  both  nuinei'ous 
and  ready  for  prompt  action.  The  Act  was  to 
take  effect  Noveml)er  1st,  1  705,  but  not  a  stamp  was 
to  be  found  in  the  town,  nor  was  it  safe  either  to  offer 
for  sale,  or  to  use  one,  as  the  following  extract  from  a 
New  York  paper  of  February  27th,  17()(),  would 
l)lainly  indicate  :  "  A  large  gallows  was  erected  in 
Elizabethtown  last  week,  with  a  rope  ready  fixed 
thereto,  and  the  inhaliitants  there  vow  and  declare  that 
the  first  pei'son  that  either  takes  out  or  distril)utes  a 
stam])ed  ])a])er,  shall  be  hung  thereon  without  judge 
or  jury." 

When  the  vindictive  Act  of  the  British  Parliament, 
closing  the  port  at  Boston,  in  retaliation  for  the  "  Bos- 
ton Tea  Party  "  was  passed,  the  patriotic  spirit  of  the 
Colonists  broke  forth  in  a  fianie  of  angry  resent- 
ment. Nowhere  was  the  spirit  of  resistance 
to  tyranny  more  manifest  than  in  this  town, 
wdiich  became  from  that  time  the  heachpiarters 
of  the  ])atriot  movement  in  New  Jersey.  Then  was 
heard  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath  in  the  old  Church, 
from  the  Pastor,  the  earnest  prayei-  to  Almighty  God, 
the   Rulei"  of  Nations,    and  the  Defender  of  the  right, 


tliat  lie  would  give  to  the  congregation  assembled  here 
unity  in  counsel,  and  courage  of  heart  to  do  and  to 
dare  in  defense  of  the  sacred  principles  of  liberty  be- 
queathed to  them  in  trust  by  their  ancestors.  And  as 
the  cloud  appeared  which  was  soon  to  roll  uj),  black 
\^dth  the  coming  storm  of  war,  and  charged  with  the 
lightnings  of  man's  wrath,  which  would,  before  it  w^s 
passed,  swee])  away  Pastor,  and  Church  and  Parsonage, 
in  a  common  destruction,  Caldwell  })oure(l  out  from  his 
j)ul])it  in  elo(i[uent  utterances,  words  of  faith  in  God, 
and  unc(^mpromising  devotion  to  the  cause  so  dear  to 
his  own  heart.  Nor  did  his  words  fall- on  ears  unwill- 
ing to  hear,  or  hearts  unsympathetic  with  his  fervent 
appeals.  On  the  contrary,  that  peoi)le,  well  trained  in 
the  docti'ines  and  ])romises  of  God's  word,  and  ])eliev- 
ing  in  the  "God  of  their  fathers,"  came  forward,  as  it 
were  with  one  hand  and  one  purpose;  and  at  the  very 
opening  of  the  conflict,  with  the  calm  determination  of 
men  who  had  counted  the  cost,  consecrated  their  all 
ix  free-nuV  offei'ing  u})on  the  altar  of  devotion  to  princi- 
ple ;  and  then  taking  down  from  the  wall  the  (^Id  flint- 
lock musket,  and  looking  it  over  carefully,  patiently 
awaite<l  the  events  of  t-he  future.  Nor  did  they  have 
to  \vait  long.  Blood  flowed  at  Lexington,  Mass.,  on 
We(hies(hiy,  the  19th  (»f  April,  1775.  That  "blood 
cried  from  the  ground,"  and  its  voice  was  heard  in 
evei-)'  hamlet  and  every  home  of  the  United  Colonies. 
The  tidings  reached  New  Jersey  on  the  following  day  ; 
the  whole  community  was  ai'oused,  the  excitement  w;is 
intense.  Patient  endurance  of  wrong  at  the  hands  of  a 
Government  which  the  Colonists  had  dearly  loved,  and 
from  which  they  had  a,  I'ight  to  expect  fostering  care, 
had    no^v   ceased   to   ]>e  a  virtue.     The  sacred  cause  of 

33 


Aiiii'i'ii-;iii  IniK'pcinlciici'  li.-nl  rccciNcd  its  fii-st  l)U|)tism 
of  Idooil.  "  ( )li,  wliat  ;i  <i:;l(>ri()us  iiiorniiiLi-  is  tliis,"  ex- 
claimed Saimiel  Adams,  of"  Massacliusetts,  wlieii  he 
lieai'd  tlie  i^'uiis  at  Lexinii-toii.  "  It  was  not  safe,"  says 
Dr.  Hatfield,  in  tliat  hour  when  tlie  eeho  pu-is-d  over  New 
Jersey,  "to  Vn'eathe  a  ^\■ord  in  Eliza]>etht()wn  against 
the  patriot  cause."  Wlien  tlie  tidini^-s  of  tlie  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  I'eached  this  town  ''the  great 
majority  of  the  ])eople  hailed  it  with  joy,  and  acce])ted 
till'  arbitrament  of  the  sword  with  calm  determination; 
some,  however,  took  the  first  op])ortunity  to  connect 
themselves,  openly  and  violently,  with  tlie  cause  of 
royalty."  By  the  occupation  in  the  Summer  of  177(5, 
of  Staten  Island,  l>y  the  British  under  Gen.  Howe,  this 
town  was  l>rought  into  the  very  fore-front  of  the  field 
of  conflict,  and  so  continued  throughout  the  Avar.  As 
an  illustration  of  the  s])irit  which- ins])ired  parents  and 
children  alike,  in  that  hour  of  anxiety,  and  uncertainty 
concerning  tlie  futui'e  to  which  this  Declaration  of 
Independence  would  inevitabl}'  commit  the  ]>eople,  I 
cannot  refrain  from  (pioting  an  anecdote  found  in  a 
Philadelphia  ])aper  of  August  lOtli,  177(;:  "On  the 
late  alarm  at  Elizabetlitown  July  od,  when  an  immedi- 
ate attack  of  the  British  regulars  was  expected,  and 
every  man  ca])al)le  of  bearing  arms  was  summoned  to 
defend  it,  there  were  three  or  four  young  men,  brothers, 
going  out  from  one  house,  when  an  elderly  lady,  mother 
or  grandmother  to  the  young  men,  with  a  resolute 
calmness,  encouraged  and  assisted  them  to  arm.  When 
they  were  just  setting  out,  she  addressed  them  thus  : 
'  My  children,  I  have  a  few  words  to  say  to- you.  You 
are  going  out  in  a  just  cause,  to  fight  for  the  rights  and 
liberties  of  your  country  ;  you  have  my  blessing  and 
34 


prayers,  that  Uod  will  protect  and  assist  you  ;  ))iit  if  you 
fall,  His  will  be  done.  Let  me  beg  of  you,  my  child- 
ren, that  if  you  fall,  it  may  be  likeineii,  and  that  if  you 
are  found  on  the  battle  field,  it  may  be  with  your 
wounds  in  your  breast,  and  not  in  your  back/  "  Such 
was  the  spirit  of  the  Christian  mothers,  who  sat  in 
Grod's  house  on  this  hallowed  ground,  in  the  days  of 
Caldwell  and  the  Revolution.  God  grant  that  in  this 
noble  union  of  piety  and  ardent  ])atriotism,  the 
children  who  shall  from  genei'ation  to  generation 
occupy  these  seats,  may  prove  themselves  worthy  of 
such  mothers. 

The  Fourth  of  July,  177(1,  was  celebrated  in 
this  town  in  the  following  manner,  as  given  in  a 
newspaper  of  the  day,  "  One  of  the  enemy's  armed 
sloops  of  fourteen  giuis,  having  this  evening  run  up 
near  ElizaT)ethtowu  Point,  was  attacked  from  the  shore, 
with  two  twelve-] )ounders,  a  great  number  of  her  men 
killed,  she  set  on  tire,  and  entirely  destroyed."  "As 
this  occurr.-d  within  two  or  three  hours  of  the  adop- 
tion of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  it  was  prob- 
ably the  first  military  ex})loit  of  the  ne\\-born  nation, 
and  an  aus])ici(ms  omen  of  its  career.''  In  April, 
177(),  Col.  Dayton's  regiment,  that  had  l)een  (piartered 
in  town,  received  orders  to  march  for  the  i-elief  of  the 
army  besieging  Quel)ec.  As  most  of  the  ofiicers,  and 
many  of  the  ])rivates,  wviv  mem})ers  of  Mr.  Caldwell's 
congregation,  a  strong  desire  ^vas  ex])ressed  that  he 
should  serve  as  Cha])lain.  Lieut.  Elmer,  in  his  Diaiy 
A])ril  'iHth,  says:  "Members  of  the  Presl)yteria:i 
meeting,  met  about  Mr.  CaUhrell's  going  to  Quebec 
with  us,  which  was  agreed  on  after  some  del)ate." 
''Parson  Caldwell,"  or  the  "Fighting  Chaplain,"  as  he 

35 


was  fallcil  by  the  Bi-itisli,  who  had  I'eason  l)<)th  to  fejir 
and  hate  him  for  his  jH)wei'fiil  iiitliieiice  in  aiding  the 
])ati'iot  caiise,  was  from  that  time  forward  to  the  ch)se 
of  his  life,  occiij)ied  more  or  less  continually,  in  the 
service  of  his  country.  "He  was  at  once  the  ardent 
})atriot,  and  the  faithful  Christian  Pastor.  The  Sab- 
bath found  him,  whether  at  home  oi'  in  the  camp, 
ready  to  proclaim  the  Gospel,  with  its  messages  of 
mercy  and  comfort,  to  his  fellow  men  ;  while  he  was 
ever  watchful  at  other  times  to  use  eveiy  o})poi*tiuiity 
to  ])romote  the  spiritual  welfare  of  citizens  and  soldiers. 
He  was  held,  therefore,  in  the  highest  esteem  by  ofHcers 
and  men,  confitled  in  by  all,  and  regarded  with  eiitlni- 
siastic  love  by  the  rank  and  file."  No  one,  conse- 
(piently,  save  his  parishionei',  Gov.  Livingston,  was  more 
feared  and  hated  by  the  Tories  and  the  British.  Gladly 
would  they  have  kidnapped  him  if  they  could.  Doubt- 
less it  was  owning  to  a  full  appreciation  of  this  fact,  that 
he  was  wont,  as  Dr.  McDowell  relates,  when  returning 
fi'om  active  service  to  pass  a  Sunday  with  such  of  his 
tiock  as  could  be  gathere;l  in  the  old  lied  Stoi-e  House. 
to  make  ready  for  opening  the  seivice  by  laying  his 
cavalry  pistols  upon  tliepuli)it  cushion,  ready  for  inune- 
diate  use  if  required,  while  sentinels  were  stationed  at  the 
doors  to  give  warning.  As  the  result  of  the  disastrous 
campaign  on  Long  Island,  New  York  City  was  aban- 
doned by  the  American  army  on  September  15th,  1  77(), 
and  occupied  by  the  British.  Then  began  the  retreat 
of  Washington's  army  into  New  Jersey.  A  dark,  sad 
day,  was  that  28th  of  November  177(),  when  Washing- 
ton, with  the  wreck  of  his  army,  not  more  than  8,500  in 
number,  entered  this  town,  then  almost  deserted,  and 
was  followed,  as  the  rear  guard  of  the  American  ai-my 
36 


left,  l)y  tlie  advance  guard  of  Lord  Cornwallis.  On 
the  ()tli  of  Deceml^er,  Washington  writes  to  Congress, 
"By  a  letter  of  the  14th  ultimo  from  a  Mr.  Caldwell, 
a  elei'gyman  and  a  staunch  friend  to  the  cause,  from 
Elizabethtown,  I  am  informed  that  Lord  Howe  was  ex- 
pected in  that  town  to  publish  pardon  and  peace. 
:.':  :;:  :•:  jj^  ^]^g  lauguagc  of  thls  good  man,  '  The 
Lord  deliver  us  from  his  mercy.'  " 

The  dawn  of  a  brighter  day  for  the  patriot  cause  was 
at  hand.  On  the  26th  of  December,  1776,  Washington 
captured  a  force  of  nearly  a  thousand  Hessians  at  Tren- 
ton ;  and  on  the  morning  of  July  3d,  1777,  surprised 
and  captured  Princeton.  Gen.  Maxwell  followed  up 
these  victories  by  coming  down  from  the  Short  Hills, 
with  his  Jersey  Brigade,  and  driving  the  British  out  of 
Newark  and  Elizabethtown.  When  Caldwell  and  his 
people  returned  to  their  homes  in  January,  1777,  after 
an  exile  of  six  weeks,  "  they  found  eveiything  in  ruins  ; 
their  houses  plundered,  their  fences  broken  down  and 
consumed,  their  gardens  laid  waste,  their  helds  an 
open  common,  and  their  records,  both  public  and  pri- 
vate, destroyed."  Gen.  Maxwell,  in  accordance  with 
Gen.  Washington's  proclamation,  recpui'ed  all  who 
would  not  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  to  take  them- 
selves and  their  families  off  immediately  to  the  enemy. 
It  was  a  hard  case,  as  the  line  ran,  in  some  instances, 
between  parents  and  their  children,  as  well  as  between 
brothers  and  sisters. 

During  the  year  1 778,  which  was  one  of  unusual  quiet 
foi'  the  })eople  of  this  town,  an  illicit  ti'atfic  was  carried 
on  between  the  refugees  on  Staten  Island  and  in  New 
York,  and  their  old  neighl)ors,  who  had  managed  to  re- 
main in  the  town.      In  re])ly  to  directions  from  Wash- 

37 


iiigtoii  that  this  thing  iiixst  he  stop/x'd^  (xov.  Living- 
ston wrote,  "  Of  all  those  who  have  aj)i)lie{l  to  me  for 
recommendations  to  the  eonimanding  otHcer  at  Eliza- 
bethtown  to  go  to  New  York,  not  above  one  in  twenty 
appeared  entitled  to  that  indulgence,  and  many  of 
them  were  as  venomous  Tories  as  any  in  this  country. 
It  is  either  from  a  vain  curiosity  (extremely  predomi- 
nant in  women)  cloaked  with  the  })retense  of  securing 
their  debts  or  eifects,  in  which  they  seldom  if 
ever  succeed,  or  foi*  the  sake  of  buying  tea  and 
trinkets,  (for  which  they  Avould  as  soon  forfeit 
a  second  Paradise,  as  Eve  did  the  first  for  the  forbid^len 
fruit)  that  they  are  perpetually  pr()ni])ted  to  these  idle 
rambles.  The  me,n  are  still  more  seriously  mischievous, 
and  go  with  commercial  motives."  It  is  1)ut  sim])le 
justice  to  narrate  an  incident  or  two  on  the  otlier  side, 
as  showing  in  the  patriot  women  of  the  Revolution 
something  more  than  "a  vain  curiosity;"  and  our  first 
illustration  shall  be  taken  from  the  family  of  (to v.  Liv- 
ingston himself,  whose  eldest  (hiughter,  when  on  the 
night  of  February  24th,  1  779,  the  Bi'itish  endeavoi-ed  to 
take  by  surprise  and  capture  her  father  (wlio  fortu- 
nately had  left  home  only  a  few  hours  ))ef<)re),  and  break- 
ing into  the  house  at  midnight  demanded  from  her  liis 
papers,  had  sufficient  presence  of  mind  to  lead  them 
into  the  library  and  show  them  a  <h-awer  of  /ntercejded 
letters  frout  LoikIoh,  taken  in  a  Britisli  vessel,  part  of 
which  they  pocketed,  and  then  carried  off  tlie  remain- 
der, with  the  drawer  itself;  thus  adroitly  saving  others 
of  f-reat  value,  such  as  the  raidei-s  were  in  search  of. 
Another  proof  that  con  rage  and  trise  ecoitoiiit/  were 
com})ined  in  the  women  of  those  days,  is  found  in  the 
fact  that  while  the  Academy,  then  used  as  a  store-house, 
38 


and  standing  on  the  spot  now  occupied  by  our  Lecture- 
room,  was  burning,  liaving  been  fired  tlie  same  niglit 
with  the  just  mentioned  attempt  to  capture  Gov.  Liv- 
ingston, a  Mrs.  Egbert,  with  a  few  of  her  female  neigh- 
bors, rescued  from  the  burning  l)uihling  twenty-six 
barrels  of  Hour.  With  a  brief  reference  to  tlie  im])or- 
tant  events  which  occurred  in  the  month  of  June,  1 780, 
we  sJiall  bring  to  a  close  this  narrative  of  facts  and  in- 
cidents illustrative  of  the  days  of  Caldwell  and  the 
Revolution.  On  the  ()th  of  June,  1 7H(),  Gen.  Kn}^> 
hausen,  Conunander-in-Chief  of  the  British  forces  in  and 
around  New  York,  undertook  the  execution  of  a  care- 
fully prepared  plan  foi"  capturing  or  driving  out  of  New 
Jersey  the  patriot  army.  His  confident  ex})ectation 
was  that  he  would  capture  Maxwell's  Brigade,  stationed 
at  the  Short  Hills  just  back  of  Springfield,  and  then 
j)roceed  against  Washington,  still  in  camp  at  Moi'i'istown. 
The  Britisli  troops,  about  five  thousand  strong,  crossed 
the  Sound  and  landed  at  Elizabeth  Town  Point,  and 
passing  uj)  Water  Street,  entered  the  town  just  at  sun- 
rise. The  spectacle  nuist  have  )>een  an  imposing  one 
to  the  inhabitants  of  the  town,  luiaccustomed  as  they 
wei'e  to  "  the  ])om])  and  circumstance  of  war.''  Gen. 
Stirling,  being  the  youngest  general,  led  the  advance; 
Gen.  Knyphausen  follow^ed  at  the  head  of  the  division. 
"  An  eye  witness  of  tlie  passage  of  the  troops  through 
the  village  descril)es  it  as  one  of  the  most  l)eautiful 
sights  he  ever  l)eheld.  In  the  van  marched  a  squadi'on 
(jf  di'agoons  of  Simcoe's  regiment,  known  as  the 
Queen's  Rangers,  with  drawn  swords  and  glittering  hel- 
mets, mounted  on  very  large  imd  handsome  horses  ; 
then  followed  the  infantry,  coni])osed  of  Hessians  and 
English  troo])s,  tlie    Avhole  body  amounting  to  nearly 

39 


six  thousand  men,  and  cvei'v  man,  horseman  and  toot, 
clad  in  new  uniforms,  complete  in  i)ano})ly,  and  gor- 
geous with  burnished  ln'ass  and  poiislu'd  steel."  But 
"  let  not  him  that  gii'dcth  on  his  liarness  l)()ast  liimselt" 
as  he  that  })utteth  it  off."  Quickly  tidings  were  sent 
(.►f  the  a})])roach  of  the  enemy.  Tlie  tli'st  reception  they 
had  was  from  twelve  men  who  liad  l)een  stationed  at  the 
Crosss  Roads  to  give  warning  of  the  ap])roach  of  the 
enemy ;  as  they  drew  near,  these  men  tii'ed  u])on  the 
advancing  officers,  and  (ren.  Stirling  fell  fi-oni  his  hoi-se 
severely  wounded,  they  then  l)eat  a  hasty  retreat;  an 
eighteen-pounder  signal-gun  on  Pros])ect  Hill,  back  of 
Springfield,  was  fiivd;  the  tar-barrel  on  tlie  signal-pole 
was  liglited  ;  and  as  the  note  of  warning  reached  their 
ears,  the  militia,  composed  of  the  old  farmers  and 
their  stalwart  sons,  instantly  dr()])ped  the  scythe  in  the 
field,  and  seizing  the  nuisket  from  its  rack  on  the  wall, 
betran  to  either  toif^ether.  Theie  were  no  feathers  in 
their  hats,  nor  gilt  l)uttons  on  theii'  home-s|)ini  coats, 
nor  flashing  bayonets  on  their  old  fowling  pieces;  l)ut 
there  was,  in  theii'  hearts,  the  resolute  pur])ose  to  defend 
their  homes  and  their  liberty  at  the  ])rice  of  their  lives; 
and  by  the  help  of  God,  they  meant  to  drive  these  for- 
eign mercenaries,  Hessians  and  men  of  Waldeck 
and  Anspach,  hired  by  George  III.  to  l>uteher  his  own 
sul)jects,  from  Jerse}'  soil  as  soon  as  they  had  set  foot 
upon  it.  And  the//  did  it.  And  if  occasion  should 
ever  require  they  can  do  it  again.  So  seveiv  was  the 
annoyance  caused  by  the  Hank  attacks  of  the  unskilled 
militia,  and  so  determined  the  resistance  made  by  tlie 
small  force  of  regulars  luider  Maxwell,  that  the  enemy 
were  brought  to  a  halt,  and  the  British  Conunander 
hearing  of  the  advance  of  the  whole  of  Washington's 
40 


force  to  the  Shoii  Hills,  a  retreat  was  decided  upon  and 
begun  at  night  fall. 

In  this  retreat  an  act  of  fiendish  barl^arity  was  per- 
formed, which  bi'ought  sore  affliction  upon  Mr.  Cald- 
well and  his  flock,  and  intensified  to  the  utmost  bitter- 
ness the  feeling  of  animosity  toward  the  British 
soldiers  on  the  part  of  the  inhabitants,  many  of  whom 
were  engaged  in  the  battle.  I  refer  to  the  cruel  and 
deliberate  murder  of  Mrs.  Caldwell,  the  wife  of  the 
Pastor,  who  was  at  that  time  occupying  the  parsonage 
at  Connecticut  Farms  with  her  family  of  nine  children, 
having  l^een  removed  thither  by  Mr.  Caldwell  for 
safety.  She  was  sitting  in  a  back  room  with  her  chil- 
dren about  her,  when  a  British  soldier  approached  the 
house,  and  thrusting  his  musket  through  the  window, 
shot  her  dead  upon  the  spot.  The  few  dwellings  in 
this  hamlet  were  plundered  of  everything  portable,  and 
then,  together  with  the  Presbyterian  Church,  were 
burned  to  the  ground.  Tlie  expedition  |>roved  a  miser- 
able failure.  The  lai'ge  force  of  finely  mounted  and 
splendidly  armed  soldiers  that  in  the  morning  had 
marched  u])  Water  Street  in  such  magnificent  and  im- 
pressive array,  had  been  met,  checked,  and  finally 
turned  back,  l)y  a  comparative  handful  of  undisciplined, 
but  brave,  resolute,  detei-mined  men ;  and  that  same 
night,  through  mud  and  marsh  and  in  a  violent  storm 
of  rain,  the  British  forces,  chagrined  and  disgusted  to 
the  last  degree,  regained  the  point  at  which  they  had 
landed  in  the  morning.  The  same  experiment  was  re- 
newed on  the  23d  of  the  same  month.  A  force  of 
about  five  thousand  men  under  Gen.  Clinton,  crossed 
over  from  Staten  Island,  and  passing  thi'ough  the  scene 
of  the  recent  defeat  of  Kny^^hausen's  forces,  they  reached 

41 


SpTini»fiel(l,  \vhere,  tbrougli  the  same  means  of  giving 
warning  so  snccessfnlly  used  l)efore,  tliey  found  ready 
and  waiting  to  give  tlieni  a  like  cordial  reception,  ahout 
a  thousand  men,  Continentals  and  militia  combined. 
A  severe  engagement  followed,  in  the  midst  of  ^vhich, 
as  it  is  related,  Caldwell,  finding  that  the  militia  were 
out  f)f  wad<ling  for  tlieir  nniskets,  galloped  to  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  whicli  Avas  near,  and  returning  with 
an  annful  of  hpiin-books,  threw  them  upon  the  ground, 
exclaiming,  "Now  })ut  AVatts  into  them,  boys!"  Now, 
as  before,  hearing  of  the  a])})r(>ach  of  Washington,  the 
British  set  fire  to  the  (hvellings  and  to  tlie  church- 
edifice,  and  hastily  retreated,  galled  upon  flank  and 
rear  ])y  the  enraged  and  pursuing  militia,  who  followed 
them  nearly  to  their  fortifications  at  the  Point.  The 
whole  of  these  exploits,  from  the  7th  to  the  23d, 
occiUTed  within  the  territorial  limits  of  the  Old  Borough, 
and  among  those  who  contriljuted,  on  both  occasions, 
most  zealous  and  effective  service,  might  have  been 
found  the  ])atriotic  Pastor  of  the  old  First  Church,  and 
a  large  pr()])ortion  of  the  male  meni})ers  of  his  congre- 
gation, (xen.  Washington  was  delighted  Avith  their 
services,  and  thus  wrote  :  "  The  militia  deserve  every- 
thing that  can  be  said  ;  on  both  occasions  they  flew  to 
arms  universally,  and  acted  with  a  spirit  equal  to  any- 
thing I  have  seen  in  the  course  of  the  Avar." 

Fi'om  this  time  forth  the  people  were  mostly  pei'mit- 
ted  to  remain  at  home  in  the  cultivation  of  tlieir  fields, 
and  in  the  })ursuits  of  trade.  ConiAvallis  surrendered 
to  Washington  at  Yorktown,  October  2od,  1781,  and 
the  war  of  the  Kevolution  Avas  practically  at  an  end. 
A  treaty  of  peace,  based  on  a  full  acknoAAdedgment  of 
tlie  Independence  of  .the  United  States,  Avas  signed  on 
42 


the  8()tli  of  NoveDil)er,  17<S2,  at  Paris,  by  representa- 
tives of  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States.  The  joy 
which  tilled  all  hearts  thr(^ughout  the  United  Colonies 
at  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis,  was  nowhere  more  sin- 
cere or  more  abounding  than  in  this  old  Borough,  which 
had  been  called  to  make  so  many  and  so  severe  sacri- 
fices for  the  common  cause.  But  that  joy  was  destined 
soon  to  be  overshadowed  by  another  dark  ckmd  of 
atfliction.  One  month  after  that  event  which  crowned 
with  acknowledged  success  theii'  long  struggle  for 
liberty,  Rev.  Mr.  Caldwell,  who  had  l)ecome  more  and 
more  endeared  to  the  whole  comnuudty,  and  was  well 
known  and  beloved  throughout  the  Province  of  New 
Jersey,  was  on  the  24th  of  November,  17H1,  cruelly 
murdered  while  attending  upon  a  lady  who  had  come 
over  from  New  York  for  a  visit  to  her  friends  in  Eliza- 
beth Town,  and  had  landed  at  the  Point.  He  was  shot, 
without  cause  or  provocation,  by  a  man  named  Morgan, 
who  had  l)een  enlisted  as  a  twelve-months  man  in  the 
Continental  service,  and  was  then  acting  as  a  sentinel 
at  the  landing  at  Elizabeth  Town  Point.  In  tlie  ab- 
sence of  any  ascertained  motive  for  s(^  V)ase  a  ileed,  it 
was  quite  generally  })elieved  that  the  man  had  been 
bril)ed  by  British  gold.  He  was  tried  by  court-martial 
and  executed  u})on  the  gallows ;  but  he  nevei-  made  any 
confession  of  his  object,  or  of  what  influenced  him  to 
the  deed.  During  the  funeral  services  of  Mr.  Caldwt  11 
the  whole  town  suspended  business,  and  expressed  in 
unmistakable  manner  the  deej)  sorrow  that  filled  all 
hearts.  Siu'ely  among  the  many  trying  scenes  through 
which  the  people  of  this  congi'egation  had  been  called 
to  pass  during  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  none  could 
have  been  more  touching  and  saddening  than  that  which 

43 


ocenrrtMl  at  tlic  t'uiKM-nl,  when  "  nftci- all  lial  taken  their 
la-t  look  and  byfore  the  eoffin  was  elo-^ed,  Ellas  Boii- 
dinot  caine  foi-ward,  lea  lini!;  nine  orphan  children,  and 
])laeing  them  around  the  bier  of"  tlieir  ])arent,  made  an 
address  of  sur])a.ssing  ])athos  to  the  multitude  in  theii" 
behalf.  It  was  an  hour  of  dee])  and  powerful  emotion, 
and  the  procession  slowly  moved  to  the  gi'ave,  wee])ini^ 
as  tliey  went."  Tluis  had  tliis  ])c'o])le  V)een  called  "to 
sow  ill  tears,"  from  the  day  tliat  they  rose  ii])  as  one 
man,  with  theii-  beloved  l^astor  at  their  head,  in  resjxmse  ' 
to  the  call  from  Lexington,  down  to  the  day  when  just 
as  victory  had  crowned  their  sacrifices,  the}'  laid  their 
Pastor,  cut  ofP  in  the  vigor  of  full  manliood,  to  rest  in 
the  old  churcli-yard. 

But  these  tears  were  a  ])recursor  of  a  "  reaping  in 
joy,"  not  only  from  the  privilege  now  restored  of  return- 
ino-  in  peace  to  their  homes,  and  once  more  setting 
about  rebuilding  their  house  of  worship,  which  they 
soon  did,  but  from  a  most  precious  baptism  of  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  from  on  high  ;  as  if  the  "God  of  their 
fathers,"  upon  whom  they  had  relied  in  all  their  trials, 
would  own  with  the  highest  tokens  of  divine  favoi-  the 
faith  in  God  which  had  sustained  them.  It  is  related 
that  from  the  time  of  conunencing  the  work  of 
erecting  the  chui'ch  in  which  we  are  now  assembled, 
down  to  its  dedication,  in  an  unfinished  state,  that  is 
from  July,  1784,  to  January,  I7«<i,  the  congregation 
was  visited  ^vitll  a  special  out])ouriiig  of  the  Spirit  of 
God.  And  from  that  day  on  to  this  hour,  God,  the 
God  of  the  covenant,  the  "God  of  their  fathers,"  has  gone 
before  this  people,  leading  thein  on  from  generation  to 
o-eneration  in  the  way  of  loving-kindness  and  tendei* 
mercy;   u'ranting  to  them    the    inestimable  blessing  ot 

44 


dwelling  together  in  "tlie  unity  of  the  Spirit  and  in  the 
bond  of  ])ea.ce  ;"  reneAving,  from  time  to  time,  those 
seasons  of  spiritual  harvesting  after  years  of  patient 
sowing  of  the  seed  of  divine  truth  ;  and  permitting  us 
in  this  day  and  generation  to  l)e  so  richly  the  recipients 
of  blessings,  temporal  and  spiritual,  vouchsafed  to  us 
in  answei"  to  the  prayers,  l)e(|ueathed  as  a  precious 
legacy,  of  God-fearing,  Christ-loving  men  and  women, 
who  through  two  centuries  have  woi'shiped  God  on 
this  sacred  spot,  and  having  served  their  day  and 
generation  have  "fallen  on  sleep." 

And  now  the  task  assigned  me  by  the  Session  of  this 
chui'ch,  and  cheei'fidly  accepted,  so  far  as  I  might  be 
able  to  meet  it,  of  ])reparing  a  discourse  which  should 
give  in  general  outline  the  history  of  this  church  from 
the  time  of  its  ])lanting  down  to  the  destruction  of  the 
church-edifice  in  17^0,  including  such  events  as  were  of 
leading  interest  to  this  town  during  the  period  of  the 
War  of  the  Revolution,  is  completed.  Who  can  begin 
to  estimate  the  influence  for  good  upon  tliis  commiuiity, 
and  u])on  the  siuTounding  country,  of  tliis  church, 
which  has  just  entered  u])on  the  tliird  century  of  its 
liistory !  From  time  to  time  the  Mother  Church  has 
st^nt  off  Colonies  to  lay  the  foundations  of  other  Pres- 
byterian churches  in  this  town  and  vicinity.  To-day  as 
they  are  re])resented  here  by  their  Pastors  and  members, 
we  declare  to  them  our  unfeigned  joy  over  their  pros- 
])erity,  and  assure  them  of  our  earnest  prayers  to  our 
Heavenly  Father  that  "  grace,  mercy,  and  peace,  from 
God  oui'  Father  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ"  may  abide 
with  them,  one  and  all,  even  unto  the  end. 

You  cannot  wonder  that  the  veiy  walls  of  this  ven- 
erable   Church    are    dejir    to    her  children,  not  alone  to 

45 


tlio.>e  now  \v<n'slii])iiig  Ihmv,  but  to  those  w  ho  nri^  re- 
moved far  away  to  other  parts  ot  tlic  land  ;  and  tliat 
every  foot  of  tlie  ohl  o;rave-yard  adjoining,  where  lies 
the  dust  of  the  buried  generations  of  tlieir  forefathers, 
is  to  them  sacred  soil.  (lod  grant  tliat  the  giMiei'ation 
now  worshiping  hei'e,  yea,  and  all  that  may  follow, 
may  be  as  sound  in  doctrine,  as  fervent  in  piety,  as 
loyal  to  their  God,  and  as  true  to  their  comitry  in  the 
hour  of  her  peril,  as  were  they  ^\'ho  here  worshiped 
God  one  hundred  years  ago,  from  ^vhose  lips  may  have 
gone  forth  the  very  words  of  the  ])rophet,  "  Our  holy 
and  our  beautiful  house  where  our  fathers  pi-aised  thee 
is  burned  up  with  fire,  and  all  our  pleasant  thiugs  are 
laid  waste ;"  but  who,  .nevertheless,  "  strong  in  the 
Lord  and  m  the  power  of  his  might""  did  maintain  tlieir 
stniggle  in  the  sacred  cause  of  a  nation's  freedom, 
through  all  losses  and  trials,  and  in  the  end  "  pi-evailed, 
because  they  relied  upon  the  Lord  God  of  their  fathei's.'" 


1930-3  -PMIS 
5-34 


DATE  DUE 

g^gm^ 

CAYLORO 

PRINTED  INU.S.A. 

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